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Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere - I did have a look, apologies if my weak Google-Fu missed it.

I backed Limit Theory on KS ages back at the second tier, which has a completed copy of the game as a reward. Having backed it in a glut of largely indiscriminate KS-backing I, uh, largely forgot about it until relatively recently, and was wondering if I've missed any deadlines for confirming my Kickstarter status/e-mail address/some other process to be able to redeem the finished game when it does come out? If not, will backers just be contacted via e-mail at the time?

With thanks, and I'm extremely glad that the space-thingy I blindly clicked on nine months ago appears to be the completely awesome one.

sproginator wrote:Well, I just feel like I've been completely mislead into purchasing a game that I might never even get. That the release is just "pushed back" until Josh can be bothered to give us a copy

you didnt do a purchase, kickstarter isnt purchasing.

the very idea of kickstarter is "hey, i have a cool idea, would you like to help me by giving me money?"

Don't get me wrong, I realize that there is frustrations regarding the release of the game and the multiple delays. Searching among the forums will also yield many others that feel the same way you do.

I could get into the different policies of kickstarter and about crowdfunding and whether or not that signifies a guarantee, but that doesn't solve the problem, nor does it shed any light on the issue. Being negative and complaining also won't lead anywhere and if anything would cause the topic to be locked.

The only consolation that I can offer is that from the different posts Josh has posted as well as the dev logs, he isn't happy with how things have progressed, and that is the main push behind RTB. What really happens? Who knows..

And while I was ninja'd by cornflakes, that's an area I don't want to get into. Kickstarter is kickstarter.

Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.

sproginator wrote:It may be the case of "Hey, I have a cool idea", but he still gives no indication to when we have even the slightest chance of a beta

because he himself doesnt know.

Well, Why can't he simply release the prototype to the beta backers in order to alleviate the stress of waiting

Because releasing a beta before its ready is a terrible idea. Despite the way the terminology is misused by developers of early-access games, a proper beta should really be as feature-complete as possible. While releasing an unfinished version of the game would soothe a few backers unwilling to wait, I'm sure it might also create hard feelings among reviewers or backers hoping for a more complete experience. After all, games only get one chance to make a good first impression.

And really, you're worried because a Kickstarter project has been delayed? That's an extremely common occurrence - and one that should be recognised as a likely risk factor by every backer each time they make the decision to pledge towards a Kickstarter project. I'm sure everyone involved in those many kickstarter projects that have been late would have loved to meet their deadlines - but there are a huge number of factors that a lot of Kickstarter creators with really bright ideas (and conceivably not much experience running these sorts of projects) just fail to take into account.

The worst thing in my estimation, though, is not that those projects are late, but that the people running them fail to communicate properly with their backers what is holding up the process - they're just as likely to disappear from view for a few weeks or months to avoid the awkward questions instead of being upfront with their backers. Josh has repeatedly demonstrated the exact opposite of this. He has - for two whole years - provided daily (daily!) updates on what he's been working on, and when he's needed to push his deadlines he has been completely forthcoming with his reasons for doing so. Even now, in crunch time, he's pushing out comprehensive weekly updates to his Kickstarter backers via the Kickstarter website/mailing list and these forums.

So, while I understand your frustration, I actually think Josh's decision to not set a new deadline is actually an expression of his integrity - its become clear he's not the best at estimating how long some things take to develop, so he's decided not to fall into the same trap of setting a deadline he might fail to meet, and instead say simply "its coming as fast as humanly possible".

Just_Ice_au wrote:
So, while I understand your frustration, I actually think Josh's decision to not set a new deadline is actually an expression of his integrity - its become clear he's not the best at estimating how long some things take to develop, so he's decided not to fall into the same trap of setting a deadline he might fail to meet, and instead say simply "its coming as fast as humanly possible".

I still think that "as fast as humanly possible" still allows for "ah, I'll just take one more week to perfect this one element", especially where Josh is concerned. A deadline at least fights against this tendency.

Just_Ice_au wrote:
So, while I understand your frustration, I actually think Josh's decision to not set a new deadline is actually an expression of his integrity - its become clear he's not the best at estimating how long some things take to develop, so he's decided not to fall into the same trap of setting a deadline he might fail to meet, and instead say simply "its coming as fast as humanly possible".

I still think that "as fast as humanly possible" still allows for "ah, I'll just take one more week to perfect this one element", especially where Josh is concerned. A deadline at least fights against this tendency.

Yeah, Josh does seem to be a slight perfectionist. TBH, the next few week's worth of R2tB updates should give us a clearer picture on whether he's sufficiently managing to suppress that instinct.

Anyway, its always been hard to tell exactly what Josh has been up to, as he only ever cherry-picked the most interesting (to him) parts of his work to showcase in the dev logs. Without a clearer breakdown of how his time was actually spent on the project, its hard to say whether our impressions of his work habits are indicative of reality, or just misconceptions we've been inferring from incomplete data.